interactive investor agrees to acquire customer book from Equiniti Group Plc (EQ)

Interactive Investor (“ii” or “the Company”), the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform and number one flat fee provider, has agreed to acquire the direct-to-consumer retail customer book from EQ, for a total consideration of up to £48.5m, subject to post completion adjustments.

The EQi brokerage business is flat fee and customers will continue to benefit from interactive investor’s flat fee model as well as being part of a robust and focused business.

ii is committed to informed investment choice and value for its customers. In an increasingly technology-driven environment, increased scale supports ii’s commitment to value, and the continuous investment required in technology, skills and customer experience.

ii is majority owned by funds advised by J. C. Flowers & Co, a leading private equity firm. ii currently has assets under administration (“AUA") of £45 billion and more than 350,000 customers. It has corporate net assets of more than £200m, and no debt. On completion of the transaction, assets under administration are expected to increase to circa £50 billion of assets under administration and over 400,000 customers. Both ii and EQi’s customers will benefit from ii’s increased scale, financial strength and profitable business model.

ii has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. The Company completed the acquisition of TD Direct Investing in 2017, ATS in 2019, and Share plc in 2020, successfully migrating 100,000 Share Centre customers onto its platform in early February 2021. This latest acquisition will see ii acquire the EQi book of customers.